Richard R. Burton, PhD., is a seasoned Computer Scientist with more than 50 years’ experience.
He received a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from the California Institute of Technology in 1970 and discovered while there that his true passion was using computers to improve education. Richard went to the University of California Irvine to research how to use Artificial Intelligence to build teaching systems, working with Dr. John Seely Brown, his thesis advisor.
During Richard's graduate studies, Dr. Brown accepted a job at Bolt, Beranek, and Newman in Cambridge, MA. where he and Richard worked together for five years. During this time, they developed seminal artificial intelligence-based tutoring systems in the fields of electronic troubleshooting (SOPHIE), basic logical thinking (BLOCKS), and mathematics (WEST, BUGGY and DEBUGGY). Richard completed his dissertation titled "Semantic Grammar" and was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy in Information and Computer Science by the University of California Irvine in 1976.
In 1978, after taking three months off to sail from Boston to the Bahamas, Richard joined the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in Palo Alto, CA. His work there continued to focus on education but also included generally making computers easier for people to use. In 1987 Richard became Manager of the User Systems Research Group at Xerox PARC, a group of two dozen researchers focused on all aspects of human-computer interaction.
In 1987, Richard became affiliated with the Institute for Research on Learning in Palo Alto. He worked with linguists, cognitive psychologists, sociologists, educators and computer scientists to come to an interdisciplinary theory about what learning is and how it can be facilitated. In 1989 after twenty years of studying education and how technology can improve it, Richard lost confidence that any of the disciplines held any successful path to capturing formally what makes excellent teaching.
In 1990, Richard opened his own consulting company which focused on helping companies get new technologies into products. One of the projects he managed was a finalist for the ComputerWorld Smithsonian Award in Education and Academia for 1993.
In 1998, Richard returned to Xerox PARC as the manager of the Distributed Systems Area of the Computer Science Lab.
In 2003, Richard and his wife welcomed the birth of their son. This reawakened Richard's passion for education.
In 2004, Richard was recruited by Acuitus, Inc. Acuitus had a novel, promising approach to developing computer tutors that provide one-on-one learning experiences to students. Over the next twenty years, Acuitus succeeded dramatically, producing the DARPA Digital Tutor, a 16-week course in network and Windows system administration that is taught 90% by computer and trains Navy recruits to be comparable to expert ITs with ten years of experience. The course has trained more than 1000 United State Navy personnel for duty and helped unemployed veterans find high paying jobs.
Dr. Burton is continuing his efforts to improve education working with Exquisitive, Inc applying the lessons learned from the DARPA Digital Tutor to K-12 math.